Lost in reality
by anerol152
Summary: Kevin never expected a life after 'The Incident' could be filled with such wonderful things. A HP/Time Bandits crossover


**Chaser 2 of Magpies;**

 **Prompt: Time Bandits**

 **Optional Prompts: (word) visitor; (word limit) 1833; (object) mirror**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or Time Bandits**

 **Word count: 1833- as stated by Google docs.**

 **A/N: Kevin is in Hufflepuff because the most non-judgemental test said he was. Lockhart is the student that's obsessed with himself (the Narcissus part is there because of Kevin's love for all things ancient Greece. And because it's Lockhart.). The story was meant as the continuation of the movie because of my displeasure with it's ending. (Finally understood the judges about the whole 'open ending frustration')**

* * *

Professor McGonagall came one sunny morning two months after 'The Incident'. It was a beautiful day, with rare clear skies and as Kevin looked out of the window, he could have sworn he saw a cat sitting just where the Professor had appeared. That was the first hint he got that what was about to happen was not going to be normal.

Everything was about to change, again.

Kevin was sitting in a room in one of the houses they kept sending him to. It was the fifth one so far and by far the smallest. He was told it was only temporary, just until they find a family as good as the one he had before. They though, he didn't notice the looks they gave him when they thought he was not looking.

' _Poor boy, driven to madness by his loss,'_ is what they said.

No one believed him when he said what happened. They all thought _The Incident_ drove him mad. He was starting to think so too.

The severe looking woman scarred him at first to be honest. He was afraid she was here to take him away, that they decided to send him to some asylum. But then she spoke of the school she was representing. Hogwarts, School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. She came and flipped his world upside down with her tales of magic and all that it could do. It amazed the eleven-year-old and gave him hope that maybe, just maybe, it had been real.

The amount of relief that gave him was difficult to put into words. Even Kevin had begun to think that he might have gone mad but now, he promised himself he would learn and research as much about magic as possible. Maybe then he would understand just what had happened to him.

* * *

Diagon Alley was a strange place. Not the strangest place he's seen — not by a long shot — but strange nonetheless. From shops to people to the air itself. It all had an energy to it, unlike anything he's seen before. The robes and old slick cobblestones just helped the oddness, they added a time-travel wibe to it. They buildings towered overhead, rickety and looking like they were about to fall down any moment. Then there were the strange potions ingredients, bizarre books and everything else the shops sold. Owls seemed to be every too, swooping overhead even though it was the middle of the day.

The weirdest thing of all had to be the goblins at the bank. They looked like a strange mix of the dwarves he traveled with and Robin Hood's companions but different at the same time. The main difference was their speech or the lack of it. Whereas the dwarves were seemingly unable to stop talking; the goblins barely spoke more than a few words.

Another noticeable moment had been when he'd went to get his wand at Ollivanders. The unblinking stare of the shopkeeper's silvery eyes, the flying measure tapes, and the hum of magic were so distracting, he didn't remember a word of what was said. But when his fingers curled around his wand, the one that waited for him, well, he'd never forget that. The warmth surged up his arm and gentle breeze ruffled his hairs.

Yes, it was all so very strange, but strange was just the thing he needed in the end.

* * *

The train ride turned out to be pretty ordinary. Disappointingly ordinary, if he let himself admit it. The only strange things were the robes, owls and toads.

There were students sitting in the compartments, joking and laughing with one another. Carefree is what they were. And why wouldn't they be carefree? After all, there was nothing to be in fear of. They had not experienced what he had.

During his visit to the Diagon Alley, he heard the people in the street talking about the war and how the main villain who everyone called You-Know-Who or He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named for some reason — was defeated by a baby. He didn't know a lot about this man but he was a Dark Lord and Kevin knew that meant Evil with a capital 'E'.

He was glad the Dark Lord was gone. He already lost his family to a Dark Lord of sorts; he didn't need another one to finish the job.

* * *

They were separated once they arrived at the station, which had been the only stop the train had taken for the whole journey. The first years were ushered towards the boats by a lake while the older students went towards the carriages on the left of the station.

There were strange horse-like creatures pulling the carriages; they were thin, leathery creatures with haunting white eyes. He didn't have time to take a proper look at them, the masses pulled him along with them, and he found himself feeling relieved. There was something disturbing about them, almost as if they didn't _belong_. Even stranger than that, but none of the other students seemed to bat an eyelid or even comment on them.

He ignored that feeling as a completely new one took its place. The castle really _did_ look breathtaking when seen from the lake. He smiled as he gazed up at the ancient building; the thought of all the possible adventures and secrets putting the remaining doubt to rest.

This felt like somewhere he could belong.

* * *

Though the Hat did speak of Ravenclaw, he was sorted into Hufflepuff in the end.

Looking at the Ravenclaw table with it's Narcissus wannabe (someone on the table called the boy Lockhart), he completely supported the Hat's decision.

He knew the other houses looked down on the Hufflepuff house but couldn't find the will to be bothered by it-he was used to having his opinion disregarded before he even finished talking. First by his parents — who couldn't care less about ancient Greece — and then by the dwarves who were too blinded by greed to listen to reason and _not go_ to a place called _the Fortress of Ultimate Darkness_.

At least the people at his table looked friendly, while the other tables came across as fairly intense. And who knows, maybe attending this school would clarify the events that happened four months ago.

* * *

Kevin sighed as he looked down at the — finally — finished Transfiguration essay. He frowned as he stared at his messy handwriting. Writing with a quill and ink was much harder than he expected it to be. And transfiguration theory was anything but easy.

Attending the school _did not_ , in fact, help him understand the events any better than he did before.

Wizards didn't know anything about maps that made time travel possible. The closest thing they had was something called 'the time turner' and the artifact was only able to take its user a couple of hours into the past. They sounded useful but left his research on another dead-end. But at least with things like time-travel being possible, the nagging doubt that led him to question his own sanity was easily banished.

They had a slightly better knowledge of dwarves-appearance wise if nothing else. Though the idea of the 'Guards of Magnificent Treasures' part was the polar opposite of the dwarves he'd known. Then again, they'd seemed to be an exception to a lot of things.

During his search, he even came over a mention of the weird skeletal horses, the ones from carriages. Thestrals, according to the book, could only be seen by these who saw someone die. He suddenly falt very glad that he did not ask anyone about them. That would be awkward

He was brought out of his musings by an all too familiar voice singing praises about himself to anyone who'd listen. It seemed like the library was no longer a safe enough place to avoid the nuisance.

He quickly packed his bag and left before the Ravenclaw could spot him. The worst thing about Gilderoy Lockhart wasn't just his pompous attitude or his ridiculous hair and fashion sense. It was the fact that Kevin's skin crawls with how fake he was. After everything that he had been through, the last thing he wanted to do was pretend to be friends with someone he couldn't stand.

So Kevin had made a point of avoiding Lockhart at all opportunities.

He wasn't alone in that endeavour either. And his house always warned its members. Sometimes, it was good to be Hufflepuff.

Their common room was the only one he'd been in so far. It was warm, cosy and every time Kevin walked in he felt like he was safe. After everything he'd been through, he was starting to think he deserved that.

* * *

The end of the school year came in the blink of an eye. Well, the blink of an eye and a flurry of homework, last minute revision and confusing exams.

He was too caught up exploring all the wonders magic and the castle itself had to offer. Being able to explore something ancient and learn something new at the same time was like a dream come true for him.

Kevin was sure that by the end of the year, he had been to every classroom, down every corridor and through each nook and cranny. He remembered where the trick-steps were and which doors were truly doors, he found out about the fake wall that hid the Slytherin Common Room, the portrait of the Fat Lady that hid the entrance to Gryffindor's tower and Ravenclaw's knocker. He'd managed to explore most of the castle during the winter break — not like he had a home to go back to — and was hit with nostalgia for the adventures he'd had with the dwarves.

They weren't all happy or nice memories but they were memories of extraordinary things that made living in Hogwarts almost seem ordinary in comparison. Apart from the ghosts. Those, he still struggled to get his head around. He hoped nobody would be stupid enough to ask Sir Nicholas why was called Nearly-headless Nick, again. Once was more than enough in Kevin's opinion.

But now that adventure was over, just like his first year at Hogwarts and it all almost seemed like a dream. Like the whole 'time traveling adventure' did at first. But he knew this was real and that was why going back to living a _normal_ life was making him so miserable. The only positive thing about it was the promised lack of certain blond ponce. His exploring allowed him to mostly avoid that self-centered arrogant chatterbox but there were a few miserable times where there was no chance to escape.

Were they going to send him to the same house again to spend the summer months bored and alone, or would they give him to another family? Would his life be spent between strange homes and Hogwarts, which was even stranger? He wondered, looking at his saddened reflection in the mirror, would it even matter.


End file.
